Capito commends EPA’s newest efforts to regulate contaminants in America’s drinking water

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) on Feb. 21 praised plans by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to propose Safe Drinking Water Act regulatory determinations for highly toxic chemicals.

“I applaud the EPA and Administrator Wheeler for starting the process to finally regulate these legacy ‘forever’ chemicals and provide Americans the certainty that the water they drink, cook and wash with, and bathe in is free of these harmful compounds,” Sen. Capito said.

As part of its efforts to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, the EPA on Feb. 20 announced and requested public comment on the preliminary regulatory determinations for eight contaminants and is making preliminary determinations to regulate perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in drinking water, among other items.

“Setting drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS has been a legislative priority of mine for years, including in leading bipartisan legislation to require them,” Sen. Capito said. “Setting maximum contaminant levels for these two compounds is an essential step in addressing this human health and environmental issue and I look forward to continuing to work with the EPA to ensure standards are robust, scientifically driven, and issued in a timely fashion.”

The Safe Drinking Water Act directs the EPA to publish a list of contaminants to assist in priority-setting efforts. The law also directs the EPA to select no fewer than five contaminants from the current list and to determine whether to regulate them with a National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, according to the federal agency.

“West Virginia is all too familiar with the challenges of PFAS contamination, and now communities around the country are realizing they also have challenges from PFAS pollution,” said Sen. Capito.

PFAS are a group of manufactured chemicals that may seep into drinking water supplies and have contaminated communities across the country, according to the senator’s office.